Performers on stage from time immemorial have faced the problem of inability to communicate with his backstage support personnel. Performances have been adversely affected by improper lighting, sound system malfunctions and other difficulties noted by the performer and the audience but not recognized by backstage personnel. The performer has been virtually helpless to signal backstage without resorting to leaving the stage, sidebar comments or hand or body signals which are likely to be noticeable and disturbing to the audience.
When the performer uses a microphone the problem is not aided since sidebar comments are likely to be picked up by the microphone and amplified for the entire audience. In the past, microphones have often had switches which open circuit the microphone. However, the control of a backstage intercommunication system by the stage microphone is unknown to the applicants.